Mexico

Mexico City Friday 7/3/03 Woke early so we decided to wake up Annette and Stefan too for an early breakfast. They made it to the table just as we finished up. So we went into town looking for Grey Line International hoping to book our West Coast trip. I was worried that we would be too early (it was 8.30am) and we would have to wait a while (most shops opened around 10am). But they weren’t even there! So we went to Grey Line (local) just around the corner and haggled and haggled for what turned out to be a quite expensive package. We decided to think about it and more or less ran away. Returned to the hotel and joined up with Annette and Stefan, we caught a taxi to the Zocalo. Here we found a maelstrom of hawkers, markets, cops in riot gear, soldiers in full kit and gawking tourists. We gawked. First thing we explored was the Palacio National where some Riviera dude had graffittied up the walls with a phenomenally detailed pictorial account of Mexican history. We also got to wander around one of the meeting halls which was richly appointed and very beautiful. Behind the Palacio were some very beautiful gardens where Annette saw her first humming bird. For a city of 20 million this was a very peaceful place. Back out in the Plaza de la Constitution we watched some Aztec dancers for a short while and then entered the big Catedral Metropolitana where a service was taking place. Interesting. Being thirsty and feeling very hot we retreated into the shadows of buildings around the Plaza. Here Stefan, obviously concerned about my heat stress, lowered the temperature with a well directed and fine spray of water. Very cooling. Went into a little café where I tried to order a jug of lemonade and somehow ended up with a yard glass of beer. Mmmmm beer. Now, slightly toasted inside as well as out, I just meandered along with the group as we went to the ruins of the Templo Mayor behind the Catedral. Very interesting and quite hot as we followed a path which took us through the excavations of what was once a huge pyramid (mostly all gone now). We also explored the attatched museum and spent a good hour or so there. Hunger took hold and so we descended on a hostel behind the Catedral were, with help, I managed to get the orders right. Leila spotted an STA office and within 20 min we had tickets to Acapulco (flying out on Monday). We walked back to the hotel, stopping to get some heavy duty sun cream and to wander around a market. Horribly expensive crapola. No wonder it was empty. Back at the hotel we had enough time to siesta for a short while.